De Blasio’s Office Says No Bishop Findlayter Emails Exist

Not a single email communication was sent between staff of the mayor’s office and the NYPD, the mayor, clergy leaders or Bishop Orlando Findlayter about the bishop’s arrest in the hours and days following, the mayor’s office said this evening.

“A diligent search for records responsive to your request did not produce any responsive records,” Ian Bassin, City Hall’s Records Access Officer, told the Observer in response to a Freedom of Information Law request filed in February.

The Observer’s extensive request included email communications between Mr. de Blasio and his staff, Mr. de Blasio and the NYPD, staff of the mayor’s office and the NYPD, and the staff of the mayor’s office pertaining to the arrest and release of Mr. Findlayter from Monday, February 10th , 2014 at 11 p.m. to Friday, February 14th. 2014 at 2p.m.

The Observer also requested email communications between Mr. de Blasio and staff of the mayor’s office and Mr. Findlayter as well as members of the 67th Precinct Clergy Council.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported Mr. de Blasio’s inquiries into the status of Mr. Findlayer, an early campaign supporter, said specifically that, “The mayor’s office sent emails to the NYPD officials and Deputy Chief Royster said Mr. de Blasio called her to inquire about the arrest. He didn’t ask that the bishop be released, she said.”

Neither the mayor nor his office have ever questioned the veracity of the paper’s original report, which sparked days of tabloid headlines and charges of two standards of justice in the new administration.